


Elements

by eriah211



Category: Primeval
Genre: Angst, Gen, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eriah211/pseuds/eriah211
Summary: Sometimes even the elements seem to be against you.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Livejournal in 2013. Thanks to the ever wonderful fififolle for the beta. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

Becker was trying to climb and the rain wouldn’t stop (in fact it wasn’t just raining, it was pouring). He tried to hold on to something, anything, that would bear his weight at least for a moment, but every single rock or piece of root came loose or just slipped through his fingers. He was scrabbling on a wall of mud trying to get a foothold and the rain was conspiring with gravity to get him killed, but even if the fall to the bottom of the precipice wouldn’t kill him, the creature that was climbing up from down below would.

The creature, whatever it was (Becker hadn’t had time to check carefully, he had only seen claws and big teeth coming his way), didn’t seem to have the same problems. It moved slowly, that was true, but it was relentless. The predator wanted the prey that was above and it didn’t falter. The heavy rain and the melting ground under its claws were surely just old inconveniences to the creature, which was used to fighting against the elements to survive.

Becker had never felt so weak and helpless (his beloved Mossberg had fallen all the way down when he had first fallen off the cliff). Strictly speaking he was just a hairless ape, but he hadn’t realised before. He had no claws or strong teeth to use as weapons and it looked like his climbing skills were nothing compared to the ones of a creature that lived millions of years ago. Humans, the most evolved animals on earth? My arse!

The soldier who had fallen with him when the edge of the cliff went down had already been caught by another creature (at least his screams of horror and pain had been short) and the other team members were probably too far away to hear his cries of help over the sound of the storm. They had decided to split up to cover more ground. It had sounded like a sensible idea at the time.

Becker kept scrabbling and looking down (they always say you shouldn’t look down, but who would follow that advice in a situation like this?). The creature was getting closer and Becker didn’t know how long he had before it reached him, but probably not too long. Every time he turned his head he felt like he was playing some kind of sick version of the Grandmother’s Footsteps game.

He tried to climb up again and again (he hadn’t been trained to give up, no sir). Then, over the sound of the storm he heard a shout and a rope fell to his left. When Becker looked up he saw Danny holding it tightly, and a bit to his right, Captain Ryan firing at the creature calmly and precisely under the heavy rain. The sense of relief was overwhelming. He grabbed the rope and let out a shout of joy.

He might be a hairless ape, Becker thought while he started climbing, but he was not alone.

-END-


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